This is my first
Ban/Kazuki fanfiction. I have watched only up to Episode 12 of Get Backers as
of the moment so there'd probably some OOC-ness here and there since I'm
writing the characters from what I've seen and observed so far and I may be
wrong. Oh, and this is unbeta'ed. Anyway, enjoy!

BAD HABITS

By: Ryuuen

There are
some things in life that a person couldn't possible live without. For some, it
would be a person – a loved one, a close friend, a relative. For others, it'd
be material things like money, paintings, the latest mobile device. Still, for
others, it'd be such abstract things like dreams, acceptance, achievement. Some
things that hold no value for others may be another's greatest treasure. People
are different; thus, they value different things. And for one Midou Ban, that
thing would've been cigarettes.

It was a
nasty habit, smoking, even Ban had to admit – a nasty habit that has been slowly
eating away at his body systems and burning his lungs for years, that he wouldn't
really be surprised if he'd wake up dead one day from an undiagnosed tumor or
something. Not that he would've cared particularly. It was a habit, something
familiar, something he took comfort in. It made him feel good, made him
momentarily forget things, just enjoying the feeling of nicotine-flavored smoke
entering his mouth and moving down his windpipe, watching the smoke dissipate
into thin air as he exhales, like an earth-bound spirit finally put to rest.

And thus
did he happen to find himself once again standing outside the Honky Tonk at one
o'clock in the morning, smoking a cigarette (cancer stick, one more eloquent
than himself had endeavored to call it), gazing unseeingly at the almost empty
street and the occasional late night cabs passing by. It was another habit,
almost a routine, and normally, he would've been left alone. Normally.

Ban snorted
into his cigarette at hearing his thoughts put into words and thrown back at
him in that all-knowing tone that he has grown so accustomed to. "Right. And
wouldn't you be a happy little camper then?" He resisted the urge to roll his
eyes, moderately aware of the presence of his companion as the other padded
gracefully to his side. He sighed. "What do you want, Kazuki?"

Kazuki, as his
companion was identified, smiled, brushing away a stray strand of brown hair in
a carelessly elegant manner that, for some reason, infuriated Ban even more. "Kazuki,
now, is it? Not Thread Spool or Yarn Ball or Itomaki?"

Ban
shrugged, taking another puff from his cigarette, and said nonchalantly. "I don't
like you. You don't like me. You're obviously not here just for some fresh air.
Cut this shitty attempt at conversation, tell me what the fuck you need and get
the hell back to Juubei or Shidou or to who-fucking-ever you're screwing and
leave me be." Blankly. "Thread Spool."

His
long-haired companion simply shook his head, suppressing a smile. "Well, if you
put it that way, Ban-kun, then no. For one, the only reason I'm here is because
I'm having trouble sleeping and usually, fresh air does help." He gave Ban's
lighted cigarette a sidelong glance and wrinkled his nose in disgust, a gesture
that Ban had to admit was just too damn cute. "Thus, I do not have any ulterior
motive whatsoever in engaging you in this 'shitty attempt at conversation.' For
another, if ever I was, how did you put it? 'screwing' someone, what would make
you think I'd leave their company in favor of yours." A pause. "Like you said,
I don't like you and it's very much obvious that the feeling's mutual. But then…"
At this, he giggled and Ban had to raise a brow at the decidedly girlish sound.

Ban gave
him a long-suffering glance and replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Well,
thank you. That makes me feel so much better."

"See?"

Ban gritted
his teeth and fell silent, willing himself not to fall for Kazuki's bait. There
was something about the effeminate guy that grated on his nerves since the
first time they met, and he'd be damned if he'd give the other the pleasure of
knowing just how much he could affect him. It was different from the annoyance
he felt for Shidou and the justified hostility he felt for Akabane. There was this…
tension, for the lack of a better word, between them that kept Ban wondering,
kept him from subjecting the Fuuchouinryuu master to one of his more morbid
nightmares. And it was also this same tension that kept Kazuki from wringing
the Jagan master's neck during their more heated, albeit unfounded, arguments –
that and his loyalty to his Raitei, of course. Ban made Ginji happy in a way
none of the former Volts members could and Kazuki dare not take away said
happiness, even if something inside him ached at the thought.

"Ban-kun?"

"What?"

"What do
you feel for Ginji?"

Ban frowned
at the change of topic, and looked at his companion, thoughts swimming with its
implications. "Ginji? What do you mean?"

Kazuki
sighed and turned away from the intense scrutiny. "You make him happy, Ban-kun.
You make him feel complete." Another sigh. "He loves you, Ban-kun."

The unexpected
admission took the Jagan master by surprise and then it hit him. "Is that the
reason why you wanted to talk to me?"

An
indifferent shrug. "Maybe."

"And is
that the reason why you hate me so much?"

"Would that make so much a
difference?" Kazuki met Ban's stare evenly and it was his turn to look away.

"I care for Ginji," he said,
ignoring the last question. "He means a lot to me, reminds me of what I've been
missing out on. He's the only one who can look me in the eye and not be afraid.
I'd give up everything to protect him, if he'd let me."

"So you love him, too?" It was not
so much a question as a statement, and acknowledgement, and there was an
alarming calmness to Kazuki's tone that made Ban look back into expressive
brown eyes.

"Yeah," his voice sounded hollow,
but there was another something in the
eyes looking back at him that made him continue. "But I doubt if I'm in love
with him."

"Oh," was Kazuki's only reply, as
he averted his gaze. "I see."

The silence that followed was
heavy and oppressive, both looking at everything other than each other.

"God, why the fuck am I telling
you this?" Ban suddenly growled, raking a hand roughly through his unkempt hair
in frustration. It shouldn't have bothered him, really, it shouldn't. But there
was something in Kazuki's tone that just… "You're not going to tell him any of
this, are you, Thread Spool?"

Kazuki blinked, surprised and yet
thankful at the return to the familiar, and smiled. "Of course not, Ban-kun. Far
be it for me to ruin your reputation. Though I doubt he would believe me even
if I did tell him that I had what passes for a heart-to-heart to conversation
with a certain Jagan master, let alone that said Jagan master admitted to value
something that isn't round and shiny and sparkly."

"I'm so glad at least one of us
finds amusement in this thing because I certainly don't," he replied
sarcastically, and he had to control himself from smiling at the pout slowly
blossoming on his companion's lips. He took a long drag from his cigarette,
losing himself to the taste of nicotine upon his tongue once again. He was
surprised to notice Kazuki watching him intently.

"Why do you do that?"

Ban blinked at yet another
unexpected question. "Do what?"

"Smoke?"

"Don't you?"

"Of course not."

"Does it bother you?"

"More people die from second-hand
smoke, you know."

"And I should care because?"

Kazuki frowned. "You didn't answer
my question."

Ban smirked. "You asked a
question?"

Kazuki gave him a long-suffering
gaze.

"You know, you're cute when you're
annoyed."

"What?"

Ban's smirk grew as he noticed the
faint pinkish tinge across the Fuuchouinryuu master's face. Kazuki may have
bested him at most of their verbal sparrings but he always managed to gain the
upper hand when their conversations turned into something that resembled…
flirting?

"You're pretty, Thread Spool," he
continued, and almost laughed as the pinkish tinge blossomed into an undeniable
blush. "Too bad you're deaf."

"W-what?"

Ban took another drag from his
cigarette, the smirk still upon his lips and offered it to his still blushing
companion. "Want to try?"

"What?"

This time, Ban did laugh. "Ne,
Kazu-chan? I would've expected your
vocabulary to be a little bit more extensive."

Kazuki frowned, even more annoyed,
though one couldn't tell if said annoyance were directed at the smugly grinning
Jagan master in front of him or at himself for letting aforementioned Jagan
master affect him so. "Shut up. Don't call me that. And, no, I do not."

Ban shrugged. "Suit yourself, princess."

"Ban…" Kazuki seethed. Being
reminded of just how feminine his looks were never really bothered him in
general but when said reminder came from one Midou Ban… "I'd have you know that
I'm in no way…"

"Then prove it," Ban challenged, holding the
tip of the cigarette in front of soft-looking lips.

Kazuki glared at him before grudgingly
leaning forward to take said tip into his mouth. Ban could only watch,
mesmerized, as lips enclosed the end of the slender stick, and found himself
holding his breath. Kazuki, totally oblivious to the strange look he was
currently subjected to, slowly and tentatively inhaled the smoke into his mouth…
only to draw away and cough as it went down the wrong way.

"That was… cough certainly…
cough unpleasant," he wheezed, failing utterly at his glaring attempts, and
was surprised to feel a strong hand rubbing his back soothingly.

"Shit, Thread Spool, you okay?
God, just how much…"

Kazuki tuned out the words, the
badly disguised concern in Ban's voice oddly comforting. He coughed for quite a
while until he recovered enough to say, "I swear, I am never touching any of
those things again."

Ban laughed, more out of the need
to extinguish the inexplicable distress he had been feeling just seconds ago,
and surreptitiously moved his hand from where it was resting on the other's
back. "Well, I guess smoking just doesn't agree with you, does it, Kazuki?"

"I'm so glad at least one of us
finds this amusing because I don't," Kazuki snapped back, before realizing that
he had just repeated Ban's earlier words.

"Right."

Another tense silence passed,
broken only by the occasional cough.

"But, you know what?"

"What?"

"I doubt you would've had the same
reaction if we had done it my way in the first place."

Kazuki quirked a brow, both
curious and apprehensive at the same time. "Which is?"

"This."

Ban took another long drag before
throwing the cigarette away and surprising the both of them by roughly pulling
Kazuki towards him and kissing him, breathing the smoke into the other man's
mouth. Kazuki froze, too shocked to react at first, until he felt a probing
tongue teasing his lips and he parted them instinctively. Ban tasted of smoke
and nicotine and something else altogether that made him open his mouth a
little bit more, moaning. The kiss went on for a few more minutes, growing more
passionate, hands roaming and exploring, both participants losing themselves in
the tastes and sensations of one another until the need to breathe finally made
them break off and move away.

"I still say it's a bad habit,
Ban-kun," he said carefully. "Though I don't really blame you for indulging
yourself."

"Smoking?" Ban's tone was light,
almost teasing, and yet…

Kazuki shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever
did you think I was referring to?"

Ban looked at him once again, in a
way that made him wonder if he didn't just dream all of this after all.

"Bad habits die hard," was the
Jagan master's only answer.

"Indeed."

Ban sighed, not knowing what to
make of his companion's curt answer. "Go to sleep, Thread Spool. We have a long
day ahead."

"I could say the same for you."

"Yeah, yeah. Oyasumi."

Ban waved dismissively and Kazuki
took this as his cue to leave. He opened the door to the café and stopped.

"Ban-kun?"

"Yeah?"

A late-night cab passed by,
stirring both hair and shirt into motion and distracting him for a moment as he
turned to face his companion.

"What is it, Kazuki?"

"If you want to kiss me, just say
so next time. It would save the both of us a lot of trouble."

There was an almost playful tone
to Kazuki's voice. Ban blinked.

"Next time?"

Kazuki just smiled mysteriously before
turning back. "Yeah, next time. Bad habits die hard, don't they?" And with
that, he was gone.

Ban just stood there for some time
before an uncharacteristically goofy grin began spreading across his face. Unconsciously
licking his lips, he took out another stick of cigarette from his pack and
lighted it, watching the smoke from the lighted tip rising into the heavens,
like threads of silk carelessly woven together. And he smiled. His routine was
broken slightly but then...

Kazuki's taste lingered on his
tongue, as sweet and addictive as his beloved cigarettes…

And he decided he could get used
to it after all.

End.

I haven't really written in quite a while and my writing
skills are rather rusty so please review and tell me what you think. I'm
willing to do a sequel given the proper prodding so… hinthintwinkwink Ja!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.